The End is near

After a nice long thanksgiving break I returned to find nothing new in the garden.  I just picked some things that were ready and these included cucumber, zucchini, both kinds of hot peppers and a green pepper.  I cooked them up the same night and added them to some noodles!  I did not realize how hot the ladybug peppers were and they caught me off guard!  Ouch!  I believe I'll have some squash ready soon along with carrots, tomatoes, Kohlrabi, cauliflower, and scallions!  I'm afraid that everything may not be ready in time for the end of the semester though...  So I am happy that the gardens will still be accessible after class so I can harvest the rest of my vegetables because it would be super sad to put in all this work if I would not be able to harvest it all.  I tried to make some potato zucchini latkes but they did not end up so well :(  I have made some more zucchini fires though and they have been quite tasty and simple!

All the Zucchini!

It's hell week so I did not spend too much time in the garden today.  I just picked what was ripe and that was about it for today.  I'll stop by later in the week to pick some more veggies and since I'll be heading out of town next Tuesday I'll plan on going to the Monday section to work in the garden since it will need some love and I'll be gone for the rest of the week.

I haven't done anything to fancy yet when using my veggies mainly because I've been so busy and anything that is time intensive is not happening this week!  I had a salad which I posted last week and I made some Zucchini fry things that I snacked on while studying and were alright.  I have a yummy sounding recipe for Zucchini Latkes http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/zucchini-potato-latkes-tzatziki-recipe-5619 which I'll try and make sometime before next week.  Again no time this week!!!!  I wish a wider variety of things would be ready at this time but unfortunately all I really have that is ready is a lot of Zucchini and cucumbers which I like but when it comes to cooking my options are a little limited.  Once more things are ready I'll definitely play around a little more.  I want to try mashed cauliflower and eggplant parm so those are two items that will be made in the near future! 

The Natural, Sustainable, Oranic foods

When I think of natural, organic, sustainable food I wish I would eat those things all of the time.  What a great thing food that is produced under certain guidelines to be 'safer' for you and the environment.  Sustainable foods that use less.... actually I'm not sure what they would use less of maybe water, or fertilizers that could run off and harm the environment.  While these are great things I feel as though they are fads more than anything.  There is no scientific evidence that organic, natural, or sustainable foods taste better or are better for you but at the store they cost nearly double the regular foods.  I know which I am buying the cheaper one!  If those items cost the same price I would absolutely buy them and when it comes to buying locally I would again much rather do that than anything else.  That way it helps my area of the state economically, it cost less and pollutes less during transportation, and ideally should be fresher also.  These things are still more expensive and it makes no sense to me.  I am really excited for the trader joes that is coming because it gives you an option that may not be local but is 'natural' and things like that for a price like you would find at Publix.  I'm actually applying for a job there too!!!

We have started harvesting our veggies and my first pick was small but I brought home a couple of cucumbers, a zucchini, and some red lettuce.  I made a salad it was yummy!!!  Not very exciting though once more things are ready I will add more and start trying some new cooking that I have done before.  My challenge is to make myself like eggplant.